


New day rising

by cobain_cleopatra



Series: Little Crow Oneshots [10]
Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Dishonored AU, First Meetings, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, whaler Corvo, younger Corvo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 07:30:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11054229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cobain_cleopatra/pseuds/cobain_cleopatra
Summary: Corvo vows to keep the young Empress safe from this day onward.





	New day rising

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after the epilogue of Blank Canvas.

Emily felt so small in his arms. Slight and bird-boned, and only coming up to waist height. Corvo wondered if this was how fragile he’d felt when Rulfio first held him, ten years ago, as Corvo had finally spoken of his father and sister’s deaths. Had Rulfio felt as responsible for the tiny thing in his arms as Corvo did now?

Weeks of searching, all leading here. Corvo thought he was ready.

He stroked Emily’s hair gently, recalling that the motions had soothed him once. The girl’s tears subsided soon after, and her trembling had eased off enough for her to pull back a little. She stared up at him with large, dark eyes.

“Are we really going to leave?” She was still holding tightly to the hem of his coat, as though she expected him to disappear.

“We are.”

“What about Morgan–” She paused to sniff, loudly and completely unbecoming of a young Lady. Corvo felt a small pang of fondness. “And Custis?”

He considered how to tell her. _I cut their throats. They died regretting what they’d ever done to frighten you or anybody else_. “You won’t have to see them again.”

Her eyes widened. Hopeful. “Really?”

“Really.”

Corvo gave a fleeting look down the hallway. He and the young Empress were still alone on the upper floor. He would have left the Golden Cat the way he’d come, through one of the windows opposite the girls’ bedrooms. But he had Emily to think of now, a young girl. A Royal. Sweeping her through the window wouldn’t be the most dignified exit.

“There’s a special door downstairs, for important people,” Emily whispered, following his wary gaze down the corridor. “I think it goes onto the streets. Not many people are allowed to come through there.”

“The VIP exit?”

Emily nodded. “I think so. The Madame has the key, though. It’s the only one.”

“Then we’ll need it.”

“Prudence always keeps it on her belt.” Emily frowned around at the scant little bedroom; her prison for the last six months. “Can I come with you? I don’t want to stay up here anymore.”

“Can you be quiet? Very quiet?”

“I can. I promise! I almost got away twice.”

Corvo offered his hand, and Emily grasped it. He saw eagerness in her face, anticipation as well as fear. A reassuring sign. Something told him the girl could hold her nerve. “Then let’s go.”

They walked carefully to the stairwell, Corvo leading, Emily following closely with her hand still tight within his. There were no guards on the stairs, and no commotion coming from the guest areas. The Pendletons’ corpses couldn’t have been discovered yet.

“That’s her office,” Emily whispered, pointing towards a mahogany door as they reached the first level. “Maybe she went back in there.”

Corvo stepped forwards, crouching to peer through the keyhole. The Madame was hunched over her desk, her back to the door, the VIP key hanging enticingly at her hip. Even after all these years as a Whaler, Corvo still felt exhilaration run along his spine at such an opportunistic sight.

His hand rested on the doorknob, turning it slowly and with the practised hand of having infiltrated a hundred doorways before this. The slight click of the latch drew no attention from inside, and Corvo nudged the door ajar with his shoulder.

Emily had settled close to his side, watching his movements with the kind of quiet awe only children were capable of. Corvo considered for a second, and then laid her hand on the doorknob in place of his own.

“Don’t let this close,” he told her quietly. “Keep watch for me. Can you do that, Empress?”

Emily looked surprised by her orders, but she gave a determined nod. Satisfied, Corvo ducked under her arm and moved closer to the Madame.

Prudence was filing through papers, the rustling obscuring any noise Corvo’s footsteps may have made. Corvo stooped to reach the key, swiftly unlacing the tie that held it secure, and then he backed away. Prudence didn’t turn towards him.

He returned to Emily, who was listening out for guards as she’d been instructed. Corvo relieved her hold on the office door, and allowed it to creep shut bit by bit. “Well done.”

Emily’s expression gave away her delight. “I didn’t hear any voices downstairs. Does that mean its safe?”

“We’ll find out. Stay very close.”

The dressing area was the only room on their path that was occupied, but the two girls inside were focused on their reflections in the mirrors, retouching their makeup for the next group of clientele. Corvo and Emily slipped outside without drawing their attention.

Corvo locked the VIP door behind them, lest they be followed, and leaned against it to release the breath he hadn’t noticed he’d been holding. They’d done it. The first part at least, escaping the building. The next step may not be so easy, not when the streets leading to the river’s edge, to Samuel, were patrolled by Bottle Street and the Watch. Corvo had never moved about the city with someone so young to watch out for.

He took in the area they’d emerged into. A narrow passageway under a row of apartment buildings; what used to be an alley leading from Bottle Street to the brothel. It seemed abandoned, although there was a faint light ahead of them. Fire, candle light, from the looks of it. Fire usually meant people.

Better to be cautious.

Corvo caught Emily’s eye and raised a gloved finger to his lips, signalling her to stay silent. The girl nodded, and tiptoed closely as Corvo paced further down the alleyway.

“Have you seen him?”

Corvo froze at the voice, instinctively keeping Emily back with one arm. The girl’s hands gripped his sleeve.

He peered around the corner, frowning at the familiar sight that greeted him.

“You have, haven’t you? The handsome one, with the beautiful dark eyes.” The old woman was scurrying back and forth along the little hovel, wringing her hands frantically. “You’ve both seen him, dearie, I know it! Tell him Granny Rags is waiting. You’ll tell him, won’t you, when you see him? Yes, yes. That’s nice!”

Corvo vaguely recalled that the woman’s house had been seized by the Overseers some time ago. How she’d managed to escape here, with her lacking sight, he had no idea.

“She’s weird.” Emily was watching the old woman move about with a disturbed fascination.

“She won’t hurt us.” Corvo hoped he sounded more certain than he felt. “Come on.”

They edged around her, reaching a small set of stairs, when a bony hand laid itself on Corvo’s shoulder.

“Dear?”

Corvo gave Emily a gentle push, and the girl retreated safely to the top of the steps. Corvo glared over his shoulder at Granny Rags.

“Oh, my dear! So handsome, just like him!” She took his chin, and though her cloudy eyes were focused somewhere beneath his ear, Corvo swore she was examining his face. “Such lovely dark eyes too, yes, yes, yes! Best run along now, my love. Or that young girl might trip and fall in the river, and that won’t do. Won’t do at all! There’s still _so_ much to do!”

She swiftly released him, and resumed her wandering.

“She’s really weird,” Emily whispered, reaching out for him.

Corvo took her hand. “Mm,” he agreed. Although he also agreed with the old woman’s last remark. Between the small gathering of weepers ahead, two Watch guard checkpoints and the Bottle Street groups they still had to navigate to reach Samuel’s boat, there was still much to do indeed.

But something – perhaps in the way Emily’s jaw was set, determined, when she spotted the first weeper up ahead – assured Corvo that they’d make it to Samuel unharmed.

***

“That was so scary!” His charge let slip a little laugh as they reached the shores of Wrenhaven. “I thought someone would see us!”

“I’m never seen.”

“Really?” Emily grinned, enchanted by the thought. “Never? Not even once?”

“Not once.”

The girl bobbed up and down on her feet as they walked, and Corvo just knew there were a hundred more questions incoming.

“How did you know that guard would be coming around the corner? And how did you know where to throw that bottle to distract that man in the alley? And how–”

Corvo couldn’t hold back a smile at the girl’s excitement. Even though it served as a reminder for how long she’d been captive, stuck inside the Golden Cat with no way out. The thought of it, being caged in one place for so long, was suffocating.

“How did you know where to hide that other guard? And how did you know how long you had to hold his neck for? Couldn’t he have died? And you moved so quickly from that balcony–”

“Slow down.”

Emily caught her breath. Then she smiled up at him, cleared her throat, smoothed down her blouse. “You’re right. My apologies,” she began. “We haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Emily Drexel Lela Kaldwin.” She held out her hand for him to take, and Corvo raised an eyebrow at the sudden formality. Though it was clear how hard the girl was trying not to smile. A joke, then.

Corvo decided to play along.

“A pleasure, my Lady.” He stooped to press a light kiss to the back of her outstretched hand. “Corvo Attano.”

“Corvo.” Emily tested his name on her tongue, smiling. Once Corvo released her hand and straightened back up, her questions resumed. “How old are you?”

“Twenty five.”

“That’s so old!”

Corvo snorted. “And how old are you, then, Empress?”

“I'm ten years old,” she answered proudly. “Eleven, in the Month of Rain.”

Corvo glanced down at her. He’d thought she was older, from the way she carried herself, and the confidence in her voice. It occurred to him, if Emily was soon to be eleven like she said, then Corvo must have arrived in Dunwall the year she was born.

“So that means you’re... fifteen years older than me. That’s a lot,” Emily said, cutting off his musings. The curious gleam had returned to the girl’s eyes. “Tell me! How did you disappear like that? It was so fast!”

They had come to one of the sewer gates along the shore, and its murky waters spilled out onto the sand in their path. Corvo wondered whether to reveal his strange abilities so soon...

He decided he ought to. He wouldn’t hold any secrets from an Empress. Better Emily knew now, where he could gauge her reaction to his magic. She would have to be around magic for as long as this conspiracy lasted, after all.

“Like this.” He offered Emily his right hand, and when she took it, he marked a spot beyond the sewer water, only a few paces away.

He blinked with her in a rush of air, moving through the space.

Emily gasped, glimpsing between where they had been and where they now stood. She stared up at Corvo gleefully, her eyes shining. “Is that magic? It was, wasn’t it! Can we do it again? How does it work? Can you teach me?”

“Slow down,” Corvo repeated fondly. “I’m afraid it can’t be taught.”

Emily frowned, disappointed. “But... the other stuff can,” she said, grinning impishly. “The sneaking and climbing! And the strangling! That can be taught, can’t it?”

“It’s called a Tyvian chokehold,” Corvo said as they continued to walk along the sand.

“What is?”

“The strangling.”

“Oh! Can you teach me that?”

“If that’s what you ask of me, Empress,” Corvo answered, amused. It was rare for a noble, a young Lady especially, to show interest in such things. She would have fit right in at Rudshore. “It may do you good to learn. My people can teach you a lot of things–”

Corvo regretted it instantly. He saw the way Emily blinked in realisation, the way the brightness fled from her expression. Her excited bounding stilled.

“Your people... those men. At the Tower.”

Corvo willed his own expression to remain steady. “Yes. That’s where we’re going.”

“To the Tower?”

“To my people. They can protect you.”

“I remember them,” Emily said quietly. “You were there, too. You didn’t let me see when mother–” She cut herself off, but she didn’t need to finish. “You told me not to be scared. That I had to be brave.”

 _I could’ve done more_ , Corvo answered stubbornly in his head. He could have chosen another course, instead of delivering her to the Pendleton’s as the Lord Regent had ordered. But there was no way of changing it. He could do something _now,_ and that mattered more.

“What we did was wrong. There’s no excuse.” Corvo knelt one knee in the sand until he was at her height. “We’re trying to atone. Do you understand what that means?”

Emily nodded. “To make up for it.”

“Burrows– your Spymaster. We don’t work for him anymore.”

“He told your people to kill my mother. Didn’t he?”

Corvo was caught off guard for a moment by the girl’s candour. “He did.”

Emily nibbled on her bottom lip, looking thoughtful for a while. Corvo let her think, though those few seconds seemed to pass unbearably slowly.

Finally, Emily met his eyes. Hers were a little tearful, worried. “I don’t want to be alone anymore. Wherever we’re going... are _you_ going to stay with me? Not your people, just... you. Promise _you_ won’t leave me.”

Corvo stunned himself with the conviction in his own voice. “I promise.”

Emily’s skinny arms wrapped around his shoulders, and Corvo held her tightly. “Then if your people... your people aren’t with the Spymaster anymore, does that mean–”

“Their swords belong to you. As does mine.”

“You’re going to stay with me?”

“Yes.”

The girl’s voice was thick with relief. “And you’ll protect me?”

“I will.”

Emily buried into his shoulder. “Will you kill the Spymaster, Corvo?” Her question was stifled by his jacket, barely audible. “Are you going to kill him?”

And all it took was the slight, trusting way Emily’s small fists tightened in the collar of his coat, and Corvo was hers.

“If that’s what you ask of me, Empress. It will be done.”

**Author's Note:**

> This will be the last oneshot before the sequel to Little Crow is posted. Thank you everyone who requested, left kudos, commented, and read the series. I'm always happy to hear you enjoyed!


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